First the skies rained on the Cardinal. Then it was Washington’s turn.

Stanford picked up impressive wins over UCLA (6-4) on Friday, and Washington (3-2) early Sunday after a Saturday rain delay. But Washington took Stanford to the whooping shed with a 12-1 thrashing Sunday afternoon, ruining an otherwise perfect weekend.

“We’ve been on the other side of a game like that, where we scored a lot of runs,” Coach John Rittman said. “We know there are going to be bumps in the road, but we’re just trying to stay consistent, trying not to get too high and not too low.”

No. 16 Stanford’s (29-13, 5-7 Pacific-10 Conference) victory over No. 11 Washington (29-12, 6-5) was easily the weekend’s most dramatic. Down 3-0, Washington wrestled back the momentum with two solo homers — Dena Tyson’s in the top of the fourth, and Ashley Charters’ in the fifth.

But then sophomore righty Missy Penna regained control and finished what junior Becky McCullough started. The Huskies put two on in the sixth and one on in the seventh, but never could push the tying run across the plate.

The Cardinal had jumped to a 2-0 lead in the third — off a single, an error, a hit batter and two walks — before rain forced a premature end to Saturday’s festivities. When play picked back up Sunday morning, freshman catcher Rosey Neill drew an illegal pitch from Washington’s Caitlin Noble to score freshman outfielder Alissa Haber. That give Stanford all the offense it would need.

“We knew after the rain delay there was a lot of game left,” Rittman said. “Becky pitched very well Saturday, and then [Sunday], Missy pitched out of some jams. Over the course of the weekend, any time you win two of three, that’s huge.”

Yesterday afternoon, though, Washington left no doubt as to the outcome, shelling both Penna and McCullough. The Huskies scored runs in each of the game’s six innings, while Washington ace Danielle Lawrie shut Stanford’s offense down.

The Huskies led 5-0 before Stanford scored its sole run in the third, with a Haber groundout plating junior infielder Tricia Aggabao. But Washington responded with a vengeance, and a four-run flurry in the sixth drew the contest to a merciful close.

“They just got on a roll and kept putting runs on the board,” Rittman said. “It made it difficult offensively for us to try to do things against a very good pitcher. I’ve seen us pitch better obviously, but that was a bad game for all of us.”

Stanford started the weekend on the right note with a 6-4 upset of No. 12 UCLA (28-12, 4-5 Pac-10) on the strength of some timely hitting.

Though the Cardinal failed to score after loading the bases in the first, the women managed a hit in nearly every clutch situation thereafter. Junior infielder Michelle Smith’s two-RBI double highlighted a four-run second, with Penna’s RBI single in the fifth and Haber’s homer to center in the sixth rounding out Stanford’s scoring.

UCLA pulled to within 4-3 with four hits in a three-run third, but Penna had the upper hand the rest of the way in a complete-game victory. She did allow an unearned run in the seventh, but a foul fly in the next at-bat clinched the win for Stanford.

“I was proud of way she battled through really tough situations,” Rittman said. “Bases loaded, nobody out in the sixth, and she struck out three really good hitters. Our offense gave her some run support, which was definitely huge.”

The Cardinal hosts San Jose State at 7 p.m. tomorrow before weekend visits from Arizona and Arizona State.